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James Van Allen Papers
1938/1990
Chronicles the professional career in upper atmosphere research, space physics research, and academia of Dr. James Van Allen; and document how the shifting research trends affected the career of one scientist. This substantial collection includes papers created or consolidated by Dr. Van Allen excluding those connected to his tenure as Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa. The Van Allen Papers (The Papers) encompass a multitude of topics from early upper atmospheric research in the 1950s, using balloons, to spacecraft missions to the outer planets in the 1970s; from the unofficial post-World War II V-2 Panel in the mid 1940s to the creation of NASA in 1958; and from his advice to students and to presidents. In addition, Van Allen's membership on numerous planning and advisory committees, documented in this collection, complement the technical record contained in the extensive mission files. The documentary material preserved by Van Allen has extraordinary richness and breadth in describing the evolution of upper atmospheric research and the birth and evolution of space research. Dr. Van Allen's invaluable participation in the archival processing of these papers provided both continuity and a context which greatly enhanced the collection. Technological advances were essential to the progression of scientific investigations in space. Prior to 1945, ionization chambers and Geiger tubes were carried aloft into the Earth's lower atmosphere by balloons. Advances in military rocketry made during World War opened the possibility of scientific research at higher altitudes. The capture and subsequent transfer of German rocket engineers and V-2 rocket components to the U.S. by the Army Ordnance Department was a major technological advance. The U.S. military sought development of ballistic missile capabilities by examining the V-2 rocket's performance while at the same time offering payload space for scientific research. Van Allen's proximity fuze work at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) during the war established his research credentials. Immediately after the war, Van Allen was in a position to oversee the construction of scientific payloads for launch aboard the captured V-2 rockets. The Papers document both early V-2 rocket research and the advances which allowed later instrumentation to orbit the Earth and other planets. The experience gained by Van Allen at the APL served him well in later years. In the early 1950s the National Science Foundation was established to enable scientists from industry and universities to obtain funding for research under nonmilitary auspices. This step was the beginning of a major shift from military oriented research to research funded by a civilian agency. A further formalization of this shift occurred in 1958 when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established to coordinate, fund, and logistically support research in the upper atmosphere and the nation's emerging space program. Because NASA was a federally funded agency, the acceptance of federal tax support imposed additional administrative requirements on scientific activity, involving additional paperwork and changes in the division of labor in the laboratory. This evolution is evidenced in The Papers by comparing the volume of administrative records for the Explorer I mission launched in 1958 and the Pioneer 10 mission launched in 1972.
English
Space programs Artificial satellites Physicists
Space sciences Van Allen radiation belts
Van Allen, James A. (James Alfred), 1914-2006
1950-1960
James Van Allen Papers The James Van Allen Papers and Related Collections, 1934-2001
RG99.0142
http://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/3/resources/1698
University of Iowa. Libraries. University Archives
2012/2014
Educational use only, no other permissions given. U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this digital object. Commercial use or distribution of the object is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Contact the University Archives at the University of Iowa: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/contact
Collection
personal papers photographs
jpg pdf tiff jp2
